Could've Worked
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: "Artemis and I just... We fit together, you know? It was like some sort of destiny brought us together before I could remember who she was." *Not slash. Contains WallyxArtemis which is why Romance is marked as one of the genres.


**A/N: So this came to mind with the last episode. Not slash, just some brotherly bonding for the guys with a little mix of humor here and there. So here goes nothing!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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_**Could've Worked**_

Wally was sprawled out across the mattress in one of the spare rooms in the darker depths of Mount Justice. He had his fingers intertwined together and placed behind his head to prop him up a bit.

Robin was sitting a little further down on the mattress, sitting near the foot of the bed while his best friend took up the other half. The thirteen-year-old was glad he was so small. He had a yo-yo in hand and was throwing it out in the air in front of him before letting the small plastic toy come back to him on the string that was wrapped around his thin finger.

"I really think it could've worked," said Wally out of the blue. The two hadn't been talking, just hiding out from the rest of the team due to Aqualad's stress level lately over his quickly failing romantic life and Superboy and Megan's sexual tension. . And Artemis... It all depended on which side of her you were on and both immature boys were the unlucky souls to have been placed on her bad side.

One of Robin's ebony brows arched questioningly in his friend's direction as he caught his yo-yo in his hand again. "What are you talking about?" he asked, tossing the plastic plaything out in front of him before letting it come back to him with the help of gravity and Newton's laws of motion.

Wally was quiet for a long moment, emerald eyes watching the dull white ceiling. He wanted to tell his best friend, but of course, Robin wasn't always the best guy to go to in a relationship crisis. He didn't want to say anything because he wanted Robin to always see him as a normal teenage guy who wasn't going to get attached to anything, but something in Wally knew he couldn't lie to his best friend. The ginger drank in a deep breath of the cold air that was always inhabiting the cave's caverns. "Me and Artemis."

A tiny, cocky grin touched Robin's face. He couldn't help but feel like everything was falling into place for his best friend. For the first time, maybe Wally had someone he could relate to on a different level than Robin could.

As a best friend, the Boy Wonder always felt like he wasn't able to be KF's best friend for real. The limits that his mentor put on his secret identity made it hard for Robin to deal with always having to lie to the redhead. And maybe Artemis could give Wally whatever he needed as a crazed fifteen-year-old metahuman.

"Expound on the subject," encouraged Robin, once more tossing the yo-yo out into the open air and letting the orange plastic glint in the faint light that filtered into the room from the hallway and from the small lamp on the desk that only contained a twenty-five watt lightbulb.

Now it was Wally's turn to raise a questioning eyebrow. "Expound?" he asked as his expression twisted into one of confusion.

"To expound is to give a detailed statement of," quoted Robin from the dictionary entry he had read in his downtime a few weeks ago. He really did have too much time on his hands...

Wally snorted a quick laugh. "Alright, you nerd, I'll 'expound' on the subject." He even made sure to put up the air quotes to mock his best friend even more. The ginger's mouth curled up into a soft and gentle grin.

The Dark Knight's protege waited in a stoned silence for his best friend to begin his detailed statement on his thoughts of being with Artemis.

"When we were in the Bialya Desert," began the speedster, "I woke up with Artemis and we were in the same little hut thing... place... whatever it was." His jade orbs watched Robin nod to acknowledge the point. Then Flash's nephew flipped a hand as if to shoo away the little subtopic. "And we kind of clicked."

The yo-yo resting safely in his hand, Robin had to look at his best friend for a moment. "What do you mean?" he asked.

The Boy Wonder had never been in love. He was still working out the whole 'don't tell your teammates your secret identity' thing that Batman was trying to drill into his thick skull. Robin wasn't about to try finding a date for the Homecoming dance anytime soon. He didn't want to be freaking out about girls yet.

"It's..." Wally wished he could find a word for it. Incredible was too vague; magical was too fanasty-like. Everything in between just wasn't right. His lips twisted up in frustration as he searched through his memory banks for the right term. When nothing came to mind, he had to settle with a simple simile. "You and I clicked when we met, you know? Best friends and such. It just happened. We didn't even hang out for more than like an hour and we were already joined at the hip. It's kind of like that."

Robin nodded, drinking in this information like a dehydrated man who hadn't had had a drop of water in days. "Got it," he said, just to let his friend know that they were on the same page.

"Artemis and I just... We fit together, you know? It was like some sort of destiny brought us together before I could remember who she was." Wally pulled one hand out from beneath his head and moved his other forearm in the place his knit together fingers had once been to function as a makeshift pillow; his other hand was placed on his chest. "She actually didn't seem to mind me for like five minutes there."

Robin nodded and tossed his yo-yo in the air once again before letting it roll back along the long white string and back into his hand.

"She was actually worried about me when I was running low on fuel. Artemis actually smiled. Maybe once or twice. And she seemed to genuinely care." The green-eyed boy looked to his best friend with a bit of surprise flickering across his face. "She _cared_, Rob. That's a _huge_ step. I mean, come on! She hates my guts on a normal day!"

"Not like the rest of us can't relate to that all the time," noted Robin with a devilish grin plastered upon his thin lips. He felt the tip of Wally sneaker kick into his shin with a bit of force behind it. Clearly, he wasn't supposed to be making wisecracks during such a serious conversation. About _girls_. Of course. Wally just had to pick this subject, of all things, to be serious about.

"Dude, she didn't argue with me. And she wasn't pissed off. She was actually calm. For real. I didn't even know Artemis was capable of being so, just… not furious." Wally kept his gaze on the ceiling as his foot retracted from where he had kicked his best friend. "And she, apparently, could possibly be assigned to kill me! Did you know that?"

Robin opened his mouth to answer. "If I did-"

"You know what? Don't answer that." Kid Flash flipped a hand in his friend's direction to brush the subject off as if it were dust on his uniform after a long run. "And it's weird because I was actually worried about her. Normally, I'd let her fend for herself just because I can and because I know she can take it, but I was actually trying to look out for her for a moment. And I got to hold her in my arms…" He leaned his head back, pivoting on the forearm that was placed under his head to prop him up. "God, dude, if you knew what holding a hot girl in your arms was like… It's probably the best feeling in the world."

The Boy Wonder wouldn't know anything about it. He was still trying to manage lifting bigger weights. He could easily carry a person, but not in the intimate way that Wally was talking about. "I'll take your word for it."

The redhead let a long, dramatic sigh pass his lips, sounding much like one a young lover would breathe when there was a fine dove of a woman that he couldn't have. "Artemis is amazing when she's not totally angry with me…" He gripped at his shirt a little bit as if his heart hurt inside his chest. "Man, I just wish it was like that again. When she wasn't mad and calling me immature and when she wasn't ready to hit me every ten seconds…"

"From what I heard," commented Robin, "she still made fun of you." He was still letting the plastic toy roll along the string away from him and then back towards him. The motion was rhythmic for the thirteen-year-old. He liked having something that could keep his body occupied while his mind was mulling over something entirely different. Right now, his mind was captivated by Wally's actual sensitivity. Sensitivity to anything. The Boy Wonder had never pinned his best friend to be such a romantic and now it was starting to creep him out just a little bit. He actually wanted the slightly annoying juvenile side of his friend back.

"I called her beautiful, dude. I was totally in over my head despite everything that was a total turnoff. I mean, she's _gorgeous_. If you look past Miss M, Artemis at least twice as hot. No joke."

"Yeah, still not really into girls. Puberty still hasn't hit me too hard yet." Robin gave a little shrug before catching the yo-yo again. "Have you not noticed that my voice is higher than yours?"

Wally wasn't even listening. "And I wasn't even interested in Megan. At all. She was there, but I was only watching Artemis… Man, I just want to go back to that. I wish I didn't feel something for Megan." He raked one hand through his flame-colored hair. "I wish that we didn't remember anything. I want to totally forget again so I can go back to having her with me, just the two of us alone…" The boy was lost in the memories that he had brought back from having spent a bit of time alone in that little shack with the blonde archer. He had watched her as she laid unconscious, hoping she was alright and that she wasn't hurt. He had only wanted her to be okay… Now there was a twinge in his heart, a longing to hold the girl close to his chest again, to feel her heartbeat in sync with his for just another moment…

Robin rolled his eyes, knowing that the gesture was lost behind his tinted sunglasses. Sometimes, he just wanted to take them off so he could display his clear annoyance with the rest of his teammates. It was frustrating.

"Dude, she let me hold her hand. She trusted me. And I totally would've loved to keep things like that forever… Megan's mind was kinda freaking me out, but I had her right next to me…" Wally let out another sigh of exasperation. He wished he could go back so badly that it was physically hurting him. "I can't believe that something that amazing exists."

"Are you in love with her?"

This snapped Wally's mind into focus. The ginger bolted upright. "_What_?" he asked, eyes narrowing in his best friend's direction. He had confided in the ebony-haired teen because he was his best friend. He hadn't expected questions to be what he got in return. Wally wasn't fond of questions.

"Do you love Artemis?" asked Robin, a bit more bluntly this time. The boy made sure to put some force behind his words; he was being completely serious now and he wanted to make sure his red-haired friend knew that. "It's a simple question, KF."

Wally groaned and covered his face with his hands immediately. He didn't want to answer his friend. So he tried to dodge the subject the way he could dodge almost anything else with his incredible speed. "Why do we have to deal with all this drama?"

"Answer the question, Wally." Robin just wanted to be straightforward. He wanted to get this stuff out in the open so that he had more to work with if he had to play matchmaker for his buddy and the team's archer. And he asked again. "Do you love Artemis?"

He let the question sink into his head. Wally had to let all this develop inside his skull. Was this love? Was it? Was that why it hurt so badly to be away from Artemis? Was that why it made him panic to see her in danger? Was that why he was so scared to let her out of his sight? Was that why he didn't like hearing her thoughts on Superboy's abs? Was that it? Was it because of love? "I…" Wally couldn't bring himself to a conclusion. It was like part of his heart had been ripped away when the girl pulled her hand out of his own. It had physically hurt him. And he didn't like that hurt. "…I…I think so…"

Robin chose this moment to sling his yo-yo in Wally's direction. It hit the ginger in the forehead before rolling along the string right back to where it was wrapped around the younger boy's finger. "Good. Now go tell her that."

The redhead sat up slightly again with a moan of protest. "Rob-"

"Do it, Wallace Rudolph West." Robin was pointing a finger menacingly at his best friend. If Wally had been able to see the Boy Wonder's threatening glare, he definitely would've been afraid of the smaller teenager. "Now."

"Dude, if you haven't noticed, it would totally hurt Meg's feelings. She likes me, you know."

Robin rolled his eyes. Another wasted gesture. If his eyes got stuck there one of those days, he would be especially mad. The whole thing would be for nothing and his gaze would be permanently stuck to the ceiling… "You clearly aren't aware of the little MM and Supey drama that's been going on behind your back."

Wally shrugged in defeat. "I figured as much. But a boy can dream, can't he?"

"Then dream about Artemis if you love her so much," suggested Robin, once more getting his little round toy to thunk Kid Flash in the head. "You can't go around moping over what could've worked with Artemis and not take a crack at it. This team's gonna last until Batman either rips us apart or we get our cover as covert ops blown. Until then, you might want to make the most of the time you've got." The boy's face grew stoic again for a moment. "You don't always know how much time you've got left with someone."

The speedster rolled onto his side and sighed, curling up into a tight ball. "I just don't want to. Not yet." He raked his fingers through his hair while the other arm still supported his head as a pillow. "Not until I know that she feels the same, okay? I mean, she practically called me her boyfriend when we were out in the desert and she kind of confessed that she felt that way, but I don't want to start interpreting things wrong." He tucked his knees a little tighter to his chest, wrapping one arm around them tightly after the hand attached to it was pulled from his locks of scarlet.

Now it was Robin's turn to heave a sigh. The acrobat gently pushed himself off the bed that was pressed against the wall and captured his yo-yo again in one hand. "Just don't come crying to me at the end of all this." He let the small toy fly into the air again before feeling it roll back into his palm with the smooth surface kissing his skin. "I'll just say this now to get it out of the way: I told you so." The Boy Wonder's lithe little form lingered in the doorway, a shadow of black against the light that washed in from the hallway. Then he disappeared, the string of the toy still wrapped around his finger. He had his yo-yo. It was something that would always come back to him, something he could always rely on when other things were uncertain.

Kid Flash remained in the darkness, not moving, scarcely breathing. Wally wanted to feel the girl's hand in his again. He wanted to be able to see her smile again. He wanted to hold her thin but curvy body tight to his chest again for just one more moment. He only wanted to have her close to him one more time…

Maybe it _was_ love. But he wasn't about to go out and profess it to the archer. So Wally kept quiet, walking on his toes around the bodacious blonde. He would deal with his emotions when the time came. Until then, he relished in the glory of those few memories he had of holding her hand and clutching her to his chest and being able to keep her close to him. That was all he really wanted. He just wished the memories were his reality. Because the way Wally saw it, it all could've worked if they just hadn't remembered.

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**A/N: The end got sketchy because I had an idea and then... I crashed and burned because I forgot it. So review please! Thanks a ton for reading!**

**~Sky**


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